And so our Annual Function has come and gone and what a wonderful occasion it was !!! For the first time ever Cash Pool With Payouts decided to hold our Annual Function for the whole weekend, and we landed up in Hermanus from Friday 7th February until Sunday 9th February 2014. 

The weekend did not start off too well with the unfortunate late cancellations of stalwart member AndyS and three time 2013 winner Danimal. Lynn and I arrived early Friday afternoon and were very disappointed with the accommodation. The internet definitely does it a lot more justice than real life.

Rilman was the first to arrive, all the way from Oudtshoorn. It was a great way to start the weekend, because it gave us more than an hour to chat and get to know each other. That was especially relevant because, for a tall, strong and fit guy he was very quiet for the rest of the weekend.

Zandman and his fiancee were the next to arrive, young, energetic and full of life. By this time it was time to find a local pub, and Zandman knew Hermanus well because it was the town where he grew up. Within walking distance there were easily a dozen venues, all overlooking the Whaling Bay. A really stunning town.

Eileen and her husband Frans (without his beard) eventually made their way to Hermanus, having travelled from the airport like typical tourists, stopping everywhere for photo's. Having attended the first two functions, they fitted in immediately and the geselzing just never stopped.

Then I received a phone call that could have spoilt the whole weekend. It was GI Charles, enquiring what it was like at Rusticana. Due to poor communication from my side, he was unaware that the venue had moved from Stellenbosch to Hermanus, and was cheerfully halfway to Stellenbosch. To his credit, he took this setback in his stride and changed direction to Hermanus. On his arrival there were no ill feelings about the roundabout route I had caused him to endure, and the party continued. I still owe you a shooter for that mistake.

Finally Quincy and his wife joined us, and, although they had never met any of us before, they just fitted in and we all sat around a big table, chatting and laughing until well after closing time. To illustrate the diversity of the participants around the table we had Zandman and his fiancee, early to mid twenties. Then Eileen and Eileen's Husband, late twenties. Then Rilman and GI Charles, around the forty mark. Quincy and his wife were closer to our age and we will leave it at that. We sat until after midnight and then walked home in the pouring rain. It was a superb evening.

My overriding memory of that evening was once we got to our chalets at nearly one o clock in the morning. There, in the pouring rain, ran Zandman and Rilman to their respective cars, to fetch their PC's. Picks to make, picks to make, they shouted in unison. Being a stalwart member of Cash Pools is truly an amazing feeling.

The next morning the fun started again as we all met at Coco's for breakfast. The plan was to go and do some wine tasting at the nearby farms. Quincy took charge of the schedule and we all tagged along and did the touristy thing, driving slowly and pointing at everything that moved. We visited a few wine farms and sat back and tasted the wines like true connoisseur's and had a wonderful time. Soon it was lunch time and Quincy had found us a beer tasting farm. This sounded like the perfect place to watch the six nations matches, so off we hurried.

By this time Blackadder and his wife were in Hermanus, as well as Danie10444, his wife A3 (A drie), their son Captain Sparrow and their young daughter. A few phone calls and we were all on our way to the beer tasting farm. With six different beers in front of me, six nations rugby on the big screen and a bunch of great people around me, I really cannot think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon. The venue stayed open just to accommodate us, and we had the whole bar to ourselves. Sixteen Cash Pool stalwarts milling around chatting, laughing and joking in Afrikaans and English - what an awesome afternoon.

After the rugby Zandman decided to show us the cove in Hermanus (a lovely secluded beach), where Neil and his wife joined us. This brought us to our full complement of 18 for the weekend and we stood around with beer in hand admiring the view. Danie and his family left to find us a venue for dinner whilst we enjoyed the sunset.

Again, we stood around chatting, laughing and joking as if we had known each other for years, and yet in reality we were almost strangers. Captain Sparrow attended our very first function and Blackadder and GI Charles attended our second function. Eileen and her husband had attended both functions. That was the extent of our knowledge of each other, and yet it never showed.

Dinner was a relatively quiet affair highlighted by a very kind donation from an amazing man who stressed that he wanted to remain anonymous. Due to his donation and the rest of the function contribution, dinner was costed at R 50-00 per head which included all drinks. Bearing in mind that the accommodation was paid for by the function contribution, it was a very cost friendly weekend.

Quincy had been wanting to light a big fire all weekend, so after dinner we gave him the go ahead. In the courtyard, at around eleven on a Saturday night, when most people are heading for bed, the Cash Pool fanatics stood around the roaring fire with drinks in hand and we handed out the trophies to the various winners. It was perhaps not the best prize giving ever, but frankly I was so happy to be with a great bunch of friends that I was not in the mood for official speeches. Besides, it is quite difficult to hold stage when Blackadder is around because - boy - can that man talk !!! He regaled us with fantastic stories and we kept chatting until after two in the morning.

Even though Neil joined us so late, I like to think that our soccer expert thoroughly enjoyed himself. He was still there right at the end, and perhaps in the future we can spend more time with him and his wife.

Sunday morning most of us met at a local venue for breakfast, but it was muted due to tired bodies and sad hearts having to part ways. I personally felt honoured to have spent a quality weekend with fantastic people. I had the time to speak to every person at different times, so got to know everyone a little better. Somewhere during the weekend GI Charles decided that he wanted to be known as Genital Itch again, and we all agreed. It was decided that Rilman should change his name to Groot Voel because he hails from Oudtshoorn, but he has not made the change yet. We learned that the 10444 linked to Danie does not have any significance which was rather disappointing. Unfortunately we did not think of a better name for him. Captain Sparrow is still very young, which explains why he moves from being Sparrow to Capt Sparrow to Capitan Sparrow and a few strange combinations in between.

Lynn and I drove back home to Durban via the garden route and spent one night in a glorious place called Hogsback. We were invited there by Danimal, or Dan Cornick as everyone else knows him. He is known around Hogsback as the mad Englishman who came out on a backpacking holiday 17 years ago and never returned home.  He owns the backpackers lodge in Hogsback called Away With The Fairies.

I did not meet a mad Englishman. Instead I met a man who treated us like royalty and who lives and breathes Cash Pools and SuperBru. We had a marvellous evening chatting about sport, life and SuperBru. Dan is literally bursting with enthusiasm when it comes to talking about Cash Pools and SuperBru, and is dying to meet more Cash Pool fanatics. He is offering a fifty percent discount to any Cash Pool member who comes to spend time in Hogsback. Bearing in mind that the accommodation costs are cheap to start with, half price is ridiculously cheap. So, if you want to spend a night on top of a stunning mountain, in conversation with a special host, then Away With The Fairies has to be in your bucket list. Driving towards Hogsback made me think of Austria with the huge mountain towering above you, and driving up the mountain reminded me of a Tour de France mountain stage where the scenery is amazing. A truly breathtaking place to visit, and next time I am there I WILL have a bath on the edge of the mountain. Dan, thanks for a wonderful evening.    

Finally, a huge thanks to all the participants in what for me was one of the best weekends of my life. We are unanimous about organising more weekend getaways where families can be accommodated. We may need to limit it to 30  people lest it become cumbersome, and talk has been about a central venue like Gariep Dam in the Free State or even Bloemfontein. We will look at a time a little later in the year, maybe April. Do we have to wait so long - what is wrong with a weekend getaway this September ? Your thoughts, as always, will be appreciated.